and, he initially endorsed the decision to invade iraq in 2003, but later, criticized the pentagon's war planning. mostly, though, schwarzkopf devoted his time to serving as a board member and spokesman for charitable causes, living quietly in tampa, florida, where he died yesterday at the age of 78. in a statement, the first president bush, now ailing himself, called his gulf war commander "a true american patriot and one of the great military leaders of his generation." for more on general schwarzkopf and his legacy, we are joined by "new york times" reporter michael gordon. he co-authored the book, "the generals' war: the inside story of the conflict in the gulf." michael, welcome. take us back first of all to the gulf war more than two decades ago. what was it about general schwarzkopf and what he did is that made him be regarded at least by many as a hero. >> well, this is the time in which the american military did not have the confidence of the american public the way it does now. whatever people think of the wars in afghanistan or iraq, they generally believe that the militar